Dear editor,
In Jon Huer's piece titled ``Is English In Korea Only For Koreans," he managed to write a very lengthy piece on English usage in Korea, even going so far as to call Koreans ``blind people in a blind nation".
Using his own words, ``most-rationally thinking people," after reading Huer's piece, would assume that Koreans are guilty of a serious transgression in their use of English, one so offensive that it has caused him to write about Korea's bad English-learning habits in considerable length.
However, upon closer examination of Huer's pet peeves, it becomes obvious that Huer is bothered not by improper or indiscreet usage of the English language itself, but by the simple lack of perfect pronunciation of certain English words, such as "vision," "pizza," and "mortgage loan," examples cited by Huer.
If that is the case, the majority of the people in the world who didn't grow up in English-speaking countries such as the U.S., the U.K and Australia would probably be guilty of being ``blind".
In Japan, where English words are written with the katakana system, a phrase like "mortgage loan" is pronounced "moh-ge-ji lohhn." The word "England" is pronounced "Igi-ri-su."
Furthermore, let's assume the English being spoken amongst the Koreans is totally incorrect (although Huer offers no concrete evidence of that being the case). If the speaker and the listener both comprehend what is trying to be said, and no misunderstanding occurs, then where is the harm?
Moreover, Huer seems to assume that Koreans learn English for the purpose of being able to hold hands and become buddies with English-speaking foreigners. But for most Koreans, learning English is a necessity because potential employers demand it or because they feel the need to be able to communicate with overseas customers and business partners, people who are likely to help generate revenue for such English-learning Koreans.
It really must bother Huer to see Koreans pronounce certain English words less than perfectly. I hope he never mispronounces a Korean word (or any other language's word), but if he does, he'll discover that the people around him are much more understanding, compassionate and tolerant of minor mispronunciations.
At the very least, they'll have the courtesy of not calling him ``blind."
Lee Cheun-heui
Financial consultant
Yongsan, Seoul